Fire and Memory: Transforming Place using Fire at Henge Monuments

Henges — Late Neolithic to Early Bronze Age earthwork monuments — often have long life-histories of reuse and rebuilding over generations. At some sites, fire-lighting and the deposition of fire-altered materials played a significant role in certain phases of the use of the henge. This article reviews the evidence for fire in the life-histories of four henges in Scotland, and interprets the various ways in which fire was employed at different times and at different sites. It argues that fire had a transformational effect, not only upon monuments and materials, but it also characterized and transformed people’s experiences and memories of particular sites, thus creating links between monumental sites and quotidian experience during the Neolithic and Bronze Age in Scotland.